Man charged with robbing NW Indiana restaurant

A man has been charged with the armed robbery of a restaurant Monday morning in northwest Indiana.

Jeffery John Smar, 47, is facing felony robbery charges for a hold-up at 11:46 a.m. at Country Kitchen, 120 N. Main St. in Hebron, Indiana, according to a statement from the Porter County sheriff’s office.

Investigators identified Smar as a suspect and were in the process of obtaining a search warrant for his Hebron home at 3:15 p.m. when officers conducting surveillance saw him walking down the driveway, the sheriff’s office said. He was arrested without incident.

Smar is also suspected in a series of armed robberies over the past few weeks in the Center Township, Hebron and Lake County areas, the sheriff’s office said. A vehicle spotted at a previous robbery was seen inside Smar’s garage.

Smar is being held at the Porter County Jail on the initial robbery charges, and further charges against him were pending in Lake County, the sheriff’s office said.